COLCHESTER United may have slumped to the foot of the Championship table, but manager Geraint Williams was looking at the bigger picture following his side's gutsy 1-1 draw at Bristol City.

Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United may have slumped to the foot of the Championship table, but manager Geraint Williams was looking at the bigger picture following his side's gutsy 1-1 draw at Bristol City.

“We have dropped down a place in the table, but that's now four points from our last two away games at Charlton and Bristol City,” explained Williams.

“Of course to be at the bottom is not good for morale, but you have to look more long-term. I felt the new lads (Chris Coyne and Phil Ifil) made a big difference, and it's something for us to build on.

“I'm looking at the bigger picture. There were many positives for us to start moving up the league. We created a lot of good chances throughout the game, better and clearer ones than Bristol City.

“I'm proud of my players for their performance, but we're disappointed not to get the victory. Bristol City are a good footballing side, and we had to dig deep and stay committed.

“We were very positive early on, and Kevin (Lisbie) took his goal well. It was all about his first touch. We knew that we would have to weather a storm, and so it proved.

“I felt that it was a blatant penalty (in the last minute), and Kevin (Lisbie) certainly thinks that it was! Bristol had a couple of penalty shouts themselves, so I'm not complaining too much, although I thought that ours was more blatant,” added Williams.

Keeper Dean Gerken left the pitch looking dazed after he bravely intercepted a low cross from Ivan Sproule. He appeared to suffer a head injury, and so was replaced by Mark Cousins for the last few minutes.

Williams confirmed: “Dean (Gerken) did not know where he was! He wanted to stay on, but that's goalkeepers for you! They say that goalkeepers are daft.

“He's gone off to hospital, and I think we'll put him in a straight jacket when he returns home!”

Bristol City boss, Gary Johnson, admitted that he had spent much of a frustrating afternoon bellowing commands to his players.

“That's the most that I have screamed and shouted at my players this season. I was happy with their work-rate, but I felt that they were not clever enough,” said Johnson.

“Colchester are a decent team, and this is a timely reminder that we still have a lot to do to maintain our position near the top of the table.

“We had lots of pressure, but I felt that we were not clever enough to break Colchester down on more than the one occasion which led to our goal.

“The lads are all disappointed in the dressing room, even though we've ended up going top for a couple of hours (before West Brom won at Hull in the evening kick-off). However, it's still a magnificent feat for our club to be at the top of the Championship table. I'm as proud as punch for our club.

“We dictated play without creating the chances that perhaps Colchester created. Colchester had three one-on-ones.

“It was clever play from Kevin Lisbie. He ran back from an offside position and we lost where he was. We were in the wrong defending positions. Lisbie played that very well,” added Johnson.